Not Applicable.
Not Applicable.
The present invention relates generally to flyer assemblies, and more particularly to flyer assemblies adapted to be launched from artillery cannons for surveillance and other time-critical missions.
Reconnaissance and surveillance missions are used in military as well as civilian operations in order to identify and evaluate potential targets, and to provide target information as needed. For example, in a military operation, surveillance missions can provide timely information about moving military targets in air, land or sea, or can provide battle damage assessment, following a sortie. They can also identify nontargets such as refugees.
For time-critical moving targets, it is necessary that tactical observational tools be able to provide identification and/or imaging of the targets within the fastest response time possible. Prior art unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) suffer, however, from a slow response time and in many cases are not able to reach areas of interest as fast as required by the mission.
It is time consuming and difficult to launch, operate and transport prior art UAVs. Special troops and facilities are needed to launch, transport, and in some situations recover prior art UAVs. Generally, a specialized platoon is required in order to launch prior art UAVs. Most prior art UAVs are launched like traditional aircraft from the ground, either with runways or with variants such as rails, sling-shots or similar devices. This requires flat land in a safe terrain, as well as significant set-up and support time. The UAV must also be fueled, which takes up additional time. There is considerable risk involved in transporting observational tools such as UAVs to locations that will provide the most valuable observational information, because of the probability that the tool will be detected, intercepted and/or destroyed by hostile forces.
Prior art UAVs require special storage, shipping, and handling, since prior art UAVs are stored as aircraft, requiring maintenance after use. Often a vehicle, such as a HUMVEE, is required for launch, flight support, or both. Finally, prior art UAVs are expensive to build and maintain, which constrains their numbers. Cost is not limited to the hardware of the UAVs, but additional cost is involved in training and maintaining the support troops.
Prior art UAVs use their own fuel or some other type of own system energy to fly to the area of interest. Using system energy for travel reduces the energy available for endurance or functionality when the UAV is in an overhead position with respect to the target. The sizes and locations of the areas to which UAVs can be sent are limited by such a reduction in available energy.
Ballistically launching the UAV to the desired location would avoid the problems described above. Ballistic launching would greatly improve response time. Ballistic launching would also obviate the need to expend system energy of the UAV until the UAV is near the target, thereby maximizing the energy available to the UAV for endurance or functionality. Greater flexibility would be available for the sizes and locations of the areas to which the UAVs can be sent. Existing tactical UAVs are not, however, constructed to survive the high g-forces that develop during a ballistic launch.
It is an object of this invention to overcome the above described disadvantages of prior art flyers.
The present invention features a flyer assembly adapted for launching with, transit in, and deployment from an artillery shell having a central void region extending along a ballistic shell axis. The flyer assembly includes a jettisonable shroud, and a flyer. The shroud extends along a shroud axis, and is positionable within the central void region of the artillery shell, with the shroud axis substantially parallel to the shell axis. The flyer is adapted, when in a first state, to withstand a launch acceleration force along a flyer axis. In the first state, the flyer is positionable within the shroud with the flyer axis parallel to the shroud axis and the shell axis. The flyer is adapted, when in a second state, to effect aerodynamic flight. The flyer may be an unmanned air vehicle.
The flyer includes a body member disposed about the flyer axis, and a foldable wing assembly mounted to the body member. The wing assembly is configurable in a folded state characterized by a plurality of nested wing segments when the flyer is in the first state. The wing assembly is configurable in an unfolded state characterized by a substantially uninterrupted aerodynamic surface when the flyer is in the second state. When the wing assembly is in the folded state, a span-wise axis of each wing segment is substantially parallel to the flyer axis. When the wing assembly is in the unfolded state, the span-wise axis of each wing segment is substantially transverse to the flyer axis. In one embodiment, the flyer further includes a foldable tail assembly mounted to the body member.
The flyer is adapted to be coupled to the shroud so as to maintain a portion of the flyer in tension during an acceleration of the flyer along the flyer axis resulting from the launch acceleration force. In one embodiment, the shroud includes a support mechanism disposed at an interior surface of the shroud. The flyer includes a bulkhead for coupling to the support mechanism of the shroud. The flyer can be hung by the bulkhead on the support mechanism of the shroud, thereby maintaining a portion of the flyer in tension and preventing buckling. In one embodiment, the support mechanism is a hanger. In one embodiment, the body member of the flyer includes a nose section, a mid-body section, and a tail section. Bulkheads are disposed at the junctions between the nose section and the mid-body section, and between the mid-body and the tail section. The mid-body section and the tail section of the flyer are maintained in tension during an acceleration of the flyer along the axis resulting from the launch.
The flyer is adapted to survive the high-g and high temperature environments of a cannon launch. In a preferred form, the flyer is adapted to withstand a set-back acceleration of about 16,000 g along the flyer axis. In one embodiment, the flyer is constructed from a composite material. Because the flyer is launched by a ballistic delivery system, the flyer is operable to reach a predetermined ballistic range at a predetermined average ground speed without expending system energy stored within the flyer. In one embodiment, the predetermined ballistic range is about 22 km, and the predetermined average ground speed is about 22 km/min.
In one embodiment, the body member of the flyer includes a central void region, and the wing assembly is mounted on an outer surface of the body member exterior to the central void region. The central void region is adapted to store system energy to be dispensed during an aerodynamic flight of the flyer.
In one embodiment, the flyer assembly is adapted for expulsion from the artillery shell after reaching a predetermined ballistic range. The weight of the shroud adds to a weight of the flyer so as to provide an optimal ballistic range for the flyer assembly. In one embodiment, the optimal ballistic range is about 22 km. In one embodiment, the flyer assembly comprises a mechanism for decelerating and de-spinning the flyer assembly subsequent to an expulsion of the flyer assembly from the shell. In one embodiment, the deceleration mechanism includes a parachute. The deceleration mechanism may include a two-stage parachute.
The shroud protects the flyer during the gun launch, and during the expulsion from the shell. The shroud also protects the flyer during spinning of the flyer assembly after the expulsion. In one embodiment, during an acceleration of the flyer along the flyer axis resulting from the launch, an outermost one of the plurality of wing segments is placed under compression, and all but the outermost one of the plurality of wing segments is placed under tension. An inner surface of the shroud abuts an outermost one of the plurality of wing segments of the foldable wing assembly, and provides a radial restraining force that counters a centrifugal force arising from a spinning of the flyer assembly, thereby preventing a buckling of one or more of the plurality of wing segments.
The shroud includes a separation mechanism for jettisoning the shroud subsequent to the expulsion of the flyer assembly from the shell and upon a reaching of the expelled flyer assembly of a predetermined altitude. In one embodiment, the separation mechanism includes charges embedded within the shroud. The shroud may be substantially cylindrical.
The present invention also features a method for deploying a flyer. The method includes positioning the flyer within a jettisonable shroud so that an axis of the flyer is parallel to an axis of the shroud. The method includes positioning the shroud within a central void region in an artillery shell so that the shroud axis is parallel to a ballistic shell axis. The method includes launching the shell from a ballistic delivery assembly. The method includes expelling the shroud and the flyer from the shell. The method further includes deploying the flyer so as to configure in an unfolded state a foldable wing assembly mounted to a body member of the flyer. The step of deploying the flyer may include the step of configuring in an unfolded state a foldable tail assembly mounted to a body member of the flyer.
The method further includes the steps of decelerating and de-spinning the shroud and the flyer after expelling the shroud and the enclosed flyer from the shell. The steps of decelerating and de-spinning the shroud and the flyer may include the step of deploying a parachute. The method may include the step of separating the shroud from the flyer after expelling the shroud and the flyer from the shell.